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Chapter 11
Here’s the situation. The eldest daughter of the von Bismarck counts, Elisabeth von Bismarck, had been betrothed to Johann Mayer since she was very young.
Arranged marriages between houses were common, but in Elisabeth’s case it was especially prestigious—the match had raised the von Bismarck family’s standing considerably. To be allied with the famous Duke Mayer was no small thing.
But they’d first met when they were only three or four years old. There was no way either of them had harbored any real feelings for the other back then. At least, that seemed to be true for Elisabeth.
As Elisabeth grew up and made her debut into society, attending parties and balls, she believed she had found what she thought of as “true love.” The problem was that her marriage had already been arranged long ago.
Torn between her family’s status and her own love, Elisabeth ultimately ran off with the third son of a baronial family.
Unsurprisingly, the Duke Mayer raged, and the von Bismarck counts needed a new card to play that would cover their daughter’s betrayal.
In short: the count had taken me in because he considered me to have value as a bargaining chip. The infant they’d believed was a stain on the family had grown into a useful pawn, so it wasn’t hard to understand the eager look in his eyes.
Having spent months living under my family’s watchful gaze, I learned fast to read the situation. If I wanted to survive in this world, I had to please that man. I was a lady created for that purpose. All the excessive schooling and lessons I’d been forced to endure finally made sense.
Whether Johann Mayer was a man I liked or not wasn’t important. I didn’t want to go back to the way things were. If Johann didn’t find me acceptable, the count might well send me back to that dark, cramped attic.
The attic had once been my whole world, and that was bearable. But now I knew what it felt like to sleep in a soft bed with rugs underfoot and to be sated by a few well-served courses. The idea of returning to my former life was unbearable.
I didn’t want to lose what I had. So I acted the part of a well-bred young lady so as not to offend Johann.
He believed I was another daughter of the von Bismarck line who had been unable to go out much due to a chronic illness. My thin frame, compared to other young ladies, served as a plausible explanation.
Thankfully, he took quite a liking to me and often visited the count’s house to see me.
Johann Mayer was, without doubt, the kind of man anyone would envy. He was a gentleman, respectful of my words, and above all, the heir apparent to a prestigious ducal house.
I could not understand how Elisabeth could have abandoned such a man. What on earth could the baron’s son be to make her run away?
I learned the reason soon enough.
One day Johann invited me to his home. For a woman who hadn’t even exchanged formal betrothal words yet, being invited like that was a very promising sign.
The von Bismarck count was delighted and had the maids dress me in the best gowns and jewelry. If things went well, Duke Mayer might forgive Elisabeth’s indiscretion and the family’s honor could be preserved.
The outcome depended entirely on me.
I was so nervous I could hardly breathe; I kept fanning myself. Could I do it? Could I make him propose…?
Johann greeted my dazzling self with courtesy. Draped in costly jewels and silk, I felt even more overdressed next to his simple suit—which, ironically, made him shine all the brighter. I shrank back, intimidated.
“Lady Eloise,” he said.
He kissed the back of the hand I extended as I stepped out of the automobile and escorted me. I ran through in my head everything I’d been taught.
Johann was the heir of a prestigious house. If I allowed even a hint of impropriety, I might never get another chance.
He led me into a small room. There should have been a tea table or some such, but the room contained nothing at all.
Unable to relax, I spoke in a timid voice. “Thank you very much for inviting me, Duke. I don’t know how to repay your favor—”
“That stiff title doesn’t suit you. You’ll be my wife.”
At those words I looked up, surprised. For a moment I was about to overflow with joy.
“Not yet. What matters is how you behave before me today,” he continued.
“Pardon?”
“Eloise.”
He said the next thing as casually as if naming the weather.
“Undress.”
For a moment I didn’t understand—his words sounded like a foreign language. Did he just say that? He repeated it as if I hadn’t heard.
“Didn’t you hear me?”
“Excuse me, what did you say…?”
“I said take your clothes off.”
The joy that had been welling up in me evaporated. My head cleared. Even though I knew I had to comply to survive, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
He stepped closer, wearing a sly smile that made my chest drop cold. “Or would you prefer I take them off for you?”
His hands moved to the buttons at my chest. One by one the buttons popped free with small, decisive sounds. Those little noises snapped me fully awake.
“Stop.”
Of course he ignored me.
I pushed him away fiercely. “Don’t touch me!”
The bastard Johann, whether by design or cruelty, showed no sign of relenting. He grabbed me and shoved me toward a corner with force.
He held my face and forced me to look at him.
“Do you think you have the right to refuse me? You’re a substitute for my fiancée. Don’t you dare say you dislike it. There’s nothing you can gain from my abandoning you. I don’t see you as a noble body worth prioritizing over my house. If I tell you to do something, you’ll do it. There are no other choices.”
No one had taught me what to do if a ducal son assaulted me like this. I’d been taught how to curtsy when meeting a nobleman, how to act when asked to dance, but never how to react when a duke attempted molestation.
So I decided to act on my own terms. It was true that I needed to catch his eye to become part of the house. But was family prestige worth my body? Absolutely not.
Not by a long shot.
I shoved Johann with all my strength. When he fell to the floor, I grabbed the mirror hanging on the wall and shattered it.
The shards cut into my skin and stung, but it was fine. Anything was preferable to surrendering my body to that man.
Holding a sharp piece of glass to him, I glared. “Now I know why your fiancée ran away. If you treat a woman you barely know like this, imagine what she endured. I am not some insignificant thing! I’m not a foolish woman who can’t protect herself!”
Johann stared up at me, disheveled and bleeding. He must have never imagined a woman would act like this.
But I was different. I was the daughter of a maid and a woman without pedigree—so I could do something mad like this without flinching.
“You’re completely insane!” he spat, pale yet trying to threaten me.
“If you do this to me, do you think you and your family will be safe?” he said.
“What would you do? Cancel the marriage? Go ahead.”
“He’ll have you killed,” he said of my father.
“Get lost! Anything is better than being used by a man who treats me like this!”
I never intended to actually stab him. I only wanted to threaten him enough to escape, and then I fled the mansion. The car I’d arrived in was still there, waiting.
The driver went pale when he saw my torn appearance and bloodied hands.
“Miss! Are you all right?”
“I’m not okay!”
I climbed into the car without another word. As soon as we left the estate and the fresh coolness hit me, I broke down and cried. It wasn’t fear of the count’s retaliation that made me cry; I was just… humiliated and hurt that I had been treated like that.
“Don’t ask questions—drive back at once,” I told the driver.
He didn’t ask; he drove. I tried to wipe my tears, but the motion only smeared my face worse.
When the count and countess saw the girl they had hoped to present in a favorable light return in a disheveled, blood-smeared state, they were aghast.
They demanded to know what had happened, but I refused to explain. The count apparently thought I’d been assaulted by a stranger and ordered the servants to treat my hands.
But it didn’t take long before the count heard about what I had done.
